PATRICK CAROLAN
London
Summary
Experienced manager with a 35-year track record in food retail, transforming a one-store business with £1 million in sales into a seven-store operation with £15 million in annual revenue. Skilled in strategic planning and operational management, driving consistent improvements in performance and profitability. Committed to staff development through effective coaching and mentoring, creating high-performing teams. Strong background in business development, sales management, and customer service, with a focus on achieving measurable results.
Overview
25
25
years of professional experience
Work history
TESCO EXPRESS MANAGER
TESCO STORES LTD
2017.02
- During my time at Tesco I worked in several of their Express format sites. In each of the stores I worked in, my customer service, staff absence, sales, and shrink and waste levels all vastly out performed their projected targets. I became a sponsor in many of these areas for our group of stores and due to this I was then put onto Tesco work level 3. When the operations manager was away on holiday, I was asked to cover his role and look after the other 23 stores in the group and reported back to the area manager. In my end of year reviews from both the store’s staff and my area manager I attained the top grades available.
FRANCHISE OWNER
CULLENS FRANCHISES
- 2026.03
FACILITIES MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
South West London
2021.10 - 2026.03
- Since October 2021 I have been the facilities manager for Bayley & Sage LTD, where I have successfully kept on top of all maintenance and repair issues within our stores. Additionally, I have helped with the opening of new stores and ensuring all current stores are in keeping with the law by ensuring all contracts and licenses are in place and up to date. Other duties included in my role include managing store maintenance costs, overseeing the maintenance team’s weekly schedule, applying for and obtaining alcohol and food licenses, negotiating utility contracts, and helping with merchandising.
STORE MANAGER
SAINSBURY’S LOCAL
2019.02 - 2021.09
- After a period of initial training with Sainsbury’s, I was put in charge of operating two sequential stores. The second of these stores, the one I currently manage, was suffering commercial business issues and failing to live up to expectations when I was asked to take over. I have dedicated the past 20 months to resolving these issues and am pleased that the store is now not only delivering exceptional commercial business KPIs, but also brought in a trading profit of over £120,000 in the last period. I achieved this by first ensuring all staff were fully trained in retail excellence and customer service, resulting in the store being a great place to work and shop, and allowing me to focus on the store’s KPIs. This period also saw the store undergoing an age of estates refresh, which I was able to ensure ran smoothly by using my previous experience of business development management and my work in opening new stores. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has added extra challenges over the past year, I adapted quickly to follow all government and company guidelines, which made the store as safe as possible for both staff and customers.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
2017.08 - 2018.11
- My main responsibilities were to project manage new store openings for Bayley & Sage LTD. This role started on the drawing boards and ended when the store had been trading for two months, at which stage it was handed over to the area manager who oversaw the group’s stores for that area. I had to communicate with the designers, shopfitters, local authorities, area manager, HR department, buyers, suppliers, marketing, local community, newly hired store manager and staff, refrigeration company, till systems company, and the utility companies. I then had to report back to the managing directors on the progress of the project. I did this by using a project planner to show how the project was doing and what was due to be done in the coming weeks. I opened two very successful stores on time, one of which was nominated for several awards from the Guild of Fine Food.
GENERAL STORE MANAGER
THE BATTERSEA GENERAL STORE
2017.03 - 2017.08
- This was a new 5000sq ft store that opened on the old Battersea Power Station site. My responsibilities were to get the store opened on time fully merchandised, fully staffed, with all systems in place so the store could operate. I dealt with job agencies to find both my management team and the staff team and interviewed all the staff that were put forward. I planned the layout and merchandising of the store with the owner of the business. I had to set up all the supplier accounts for the store, place the orders and allocate a delivery time. This was another successful store that opened on time.
GENERAL STORE MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
2001.01 - 2009.12
Education
O LEVEL - Maths, Commerce
RUTHERFORD SECONDARY SCHOOL
GCSE - English
RUTHERFORD SECONDARY SCHOOL
Skills
- team leadership
- Customer-centric approach
- Visual merchandising
- Project management
- Communication skills
Timeline
FACILITIES MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
2021.10 - 2026.03
STORE MANAGER
SAINSBURY’S LOCAL
2019.02 - 2021.09
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
2017.08 - 2018.11
GENERAL STORE MANAGER
THE BATTERSEA GENERAL STORE
2017.03 - 2017.08
TESCO EXPRESS MANAGER
TESCO STORES LTD
2017.02
GENERAL STORE MANAGER
BAYLEY & SAGE LTD
2001.01 - 2009.12
FRANCHISE OWNER
CULLENS FRANCHISES
- 2026.03
O LEVEL - Maths, Commerce
RUTHERFORD SECONDARY SCHOOL
GCSE - English
RUTHERFORD SECONDARY SCHOOL